Director / Animator: Olga van den Brandt
Client: Uitgeverij J.M. Meulenhoff
Book: Wie het mooist valt
For the publishing agency Meulenhoff, I made a booktrailer for the book 'Wie het mooist valt' translated from the book 'Girl at War' written by Sarah Novic.
The book is set during the war in Yugoslavia, a young girl Ana, lives in Zagreb with her family, and witnesses the beginning of the war. At first it doesn't seem to impact her day to day life that much, until her little sister gets ill and they are forced tho leave town to get her to a doctor in America.
[Spoiler alert] After they dropped of her sister, they are captured by the rebels. Together with other prisoners they are lined up in a circle in front of a grave. One by one they are shot. Ana doesn't understand what is happening, but her father tells her that when he falls down, she must do the same. She obeys, and she survived.
The book is named after this traumatic event, the fall, and it's also the main theme of my film. A girl slowly falls down above a city that is crumbling to the ground. She hits the ground with immense impact, opens her eyes, looks up in the sky, and sees the title and cover of the book.